A/N Welcome back folks...first of all I'd like to thank all of you who stopped by Wedding Bells and checked that story out I didn't expect such good responses for that one.
Well enjoy this update, I'm going to be working on the next chapter of Middlewood now and some of my older stories. Thanks in advance to all you readers
A few weeks later:
Broom in hand, Jake stood motionless in the middle of the room. The sound of a burger patty sizzling on a grill broke the relative silence of the kitchen. He turned dramatically and brought the broom closer to his body, using the very tip like a microphone.
"You see, man made the cars to take us over the road," he paused for effect. "Man made the traaaaains to carry heavy loads. Man made electric light to take us out of the dark, man made the boat for the water, like Noah made the ark."
In the far side of the room, Ron sat on top of an empty crate and aloofly watched this impromptu concert.
Jake tilted his head back "This is a man's, a man's, a man's world. But it wouldn't be nothing; nothing without a woman or a girl."
"This is the worst impression I've ever seen," Ron moaned.
"Man thinks about a little baby girls and a baby boys, man makes then happy 'cause man makes them toys. And after man has made everything, everything he can. You know that man makes money to buy from other man. This is a man's world! But it wouldn't be nothing; nothing without a woman or a girl!"
Jake swiveled his head from the left to right and pointed to Ron in the corner. "Oh man needs a woman. I sympathize with a man who doesn't have woman. He's looooossssst in the wilderness! He's looooossssst in bitterness….."
As Ron groaned another one of his fellow employees bolted into the room. He wore the same grease stained apron with the accompanying hair net as Ron and Jake.
His name was Benny and he was the senior employee of the diner, and when the owner was way, which was usually the case, he was in charge. "Alright Ron, me and Jake will work the grill, you take the orders."
"Which means you'll be playing cards back here as I stand out front…..I don't get it, don't diners usually hire waitresses, why do we have to cook and take orders?"
Jake gaped at Ron in mock shock. "What are you a sexist? You think taking orders is women's work? Well they're hiring lumberjack's downtown if you want a manly job."
"It's not like that…..I'm just wondering, you know…..what am I doing here?"
"Have you forgotten? You wanted money to spend on your ex chick…..So through my vast connections I got you this job here with me and at Mendy's."
Ron lowered his head. "Alas, I'm not with my 'chick' anymore hence the 'ex' part…so why am I here?"
"Wait a minute," Benny interrupted, "I thought the guys who worked at Mendy's were..." he made his hand appear to have a broken wrist.
"A classic myth, allow me to bust it," Jake exclaimed. "It happens to be a fact, that the entire male staff at Mendy's, are heterosexual males. But the female populace in this city does not believe that regular Joes like me and Ron…..well like me anyway... can know anything about fashion. So we're not only sales people, we're also professional actors, and we perform accordingly for the lasses and we take their money…..though our blond amigo here refuses to go all out, which is why I had to save him from being fired many, many times."
"But it's deceptive," Ron grumbled. "It's got to be false advertisement or something."
"It's called business; you give the people what they want, even if it's not what they want but an illusion of what they want."
"Forget it, I'm quitting that job."
"Well you've still got Sal's diner."
"I'm quitting this job too."
"What, you've got a problem with the food industry?"
"No, I've got a problem with grease clogging up arteries, as well as my sinuses, this job doesn't just stink; it stinks on ice, in a freezer, during an ice storm."
"Hey watch it, Benny's been working here for five years and he gets easily offended."
"Yeah, I'm easily offended," Benny added. "And what's wrong with a little grease in your nose…." Benny's fingers inched towards his nostrils.
Jake caught him by the wrist before his index finger could make contact "Benny, no nose picking when you're on the clock ok."
Ron sighed. "Man, I hope to God these aren't my golden years."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"A party at the dean's house, the actual dean of the university?" Monique inquired as she and Kim stepped out from under the awning of a department store and into the sun.
"Yeah," Kim said as she rooted through her latest purchase, a fairly expensive handbag. She snatched an invitation from the bag and handed it to Monique as she slipped on her sunglasses. "The Dean likes to 'engage' with the students every now and then, so he throws parties like these, to keep in touch with the younger generation. Though most of the guests are usually on the honor roll, or have parents who are huge investors, whichever the case maybe."
Monique scanned the invite as the two friends strolled down the city block. "Well what do you think?" Kim asked when they stopped at a street corner.
"As your friend, I'd prefer that you ditched the snooty party and came to my little shindig but as a- would be fashion entrepreneur. I know the importance of networking. This party will be packed with the cream de la cream of Upperton U's social 'elite' you could make some excellent connections for the future……..so its ok if you can't make it to my party."
"Thanks."
"No prob." Monique sighed and the friends continued down the street.
"You know, in all honesty, I'd rather have a nice quiet evening at home."
Monique chortled. "Ah the battle cry of the socially inept."
"Uh excuse me; I'm not inept at anything….except maybe cooking, anyway I have reasons for not wanting to go…..I've heard that Nicholas is going to be there…….Things might get a little awkward."
"Hmmm, what you should do is show up at that party with some delicious man candy on your arm and a fabulously tight dress to show him what's he's missing."
"I had a feeling you'd say something like that; problem is where do I find some 'man candy' before the weekend?" She said sarcastically
Monique grinned. "You don't find the man candy Kim. You're supposed to use your feminine wiles to lure the man candy to you."
"You better watch yourself Mo; you're starting to sound like a certain brunette."
"She who shall not be named?"
"Exactly…" Kim stopped and scanned the immediate area. "I'm so starving right now." Her gaze fell onto a building across the street, with a sign on the window offering a ten dollar lunch special. "Let's check out this diner."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I don't know; it'll get really weird, I mean the break up was so intense." The girls glanced over their menus as they sat in a window booth closest to the exit. Excluding the two of them, the diner was practically empty.
"What, so are you going to let this guy dictate where you will or will not party? Besides, how intense could it have been really?"
Kim brought her thumb and index finger together and separated them by about two inches. "I was this close to caving his nose in with my fist."
"Violent much? Though I stand corrected, that does actually sound intense. Kim sweetie, you need to think positively. If you really, truly want it to happen, a gorgeous, athletic, intellectual, and artistic, hunky specimen of man will drop out of the sky just in time for the party."
Kim thought about it. "I'd like to believe you……"
"You must believe, believe it and it will come true." Monique pressed her fingers against her forehead. "Just keep thinking soul mate, soul mate, soul mate and the universe will eventually answer."
"…..Yet I feel I must keep at least a minimal grip on reality."
"Why bother? Reality is highly overrated."
Kim exhaled. "Who do you have to French to get some service around here?"
"Can I take your order," said a bored voice.
Monique started. "Yeah I…."
"Ron!"
"Kim!"
"Errrr..." Monique looked from Ron to Kim then back to Ron.
"What are you doing here?" Kim asked.
"I uh…well," there were many times in Ron's life where he wanted to be somewhere other than were he was presently at. But this moment right now was currently skyrocketing to the top ten. He shrugged. "I work here."
It probably wouldn't have sounded that bad if he hadn't choked on the "ere" part of here.
"Oh," she said.
Top five and climbing
"So," he uncomfortably shifted his body from the left to the right.
"So," she said. There was a long pause.
Monique broke the silence. "Soooooo, Ron is it, how would you rank today's specials?"
Ron tore his eyes away from Kim. "Best, good, ok, decent, and wrong sick..."
"Uh no," Monique shook her head. "I don't mean how you'd rank them, like the system you'd rank them with. I meant how you would rank them in terms of edibility."
A flash of recognition came over Ron's face. "Oh I…um," he glanced at Kim again "I'm going to be honest with you guys the specials are all pretty terrible."
"Oh," Kim scanned the menu, "what about the salads?"
"They go down like razor blades."
"Is there anything good here?" Monique asked
Ron reflected on this for a moment. "I can make you guys something off menu."
"You don't have to go through all that…."
Ron put his hands up to cut her off. "Don't worry about it. It's the least I can do after you saved my life."
Monique's eyes went wide. "Oh this is THE guy from that night."
"Please, THE guy is too formal; my friends just call me guy."
"Really, we'll just find something from the menu," Kim stated.
"Trust me, you don't want that…I'll take care of this personally, just give me five minutes tops." Ron rushed in the direction of the kitchen.
"Can you believe it?" Kim said as Ron disappeared behind the counter. "Fifteen million people in the city and I run into him again so soon. What are the odds?"
Monique ran her right hand through her hair reflectively. "Yes what are the odds?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Wow, look at him go" Benny remarked as he and Jake watched Ron skillfully work the grill. It wasn't more than two minutes ago that Ron had barged into the room and demanded an opportunity at the kitchen alone. "Notice how he lacks any extraneous movements, every flip with the spatula, every sprinkling of pepper, adds to the overall flavor."
"What did you expect? Did you see those two out there? I'm surprised he didn't offer to shine their shoes."
"Eh, I've dated hotter."
"Can one of you hand me the salsa?"
Jake grabbed a bowl of salsa and handed it to Ron before turning to Benny. "What are you talking about when have you dated someone as hot as those two?"
"My last girlfriend, she was hotter than the two of them combined."
"I haven't seen you with a girl since I've been here."
"Benny, grab me the lettuce leaves….no wait, the fresh lettuce leaves."
Benny nodded to acknowledge Ron. "Of course you haven't seen her. She doesn't live in this state," he told Jake while fetching the lettuce.
"That's such an eighth grade lie," Jake groaned. "My imaginary girl lives two towns over."
"She lives in Pennsylvania!"
Jake scoffed. "Sure, I understand, you're dating a Quaker…..So Ron do you know these girls?"
Ron mixed in some onions into a bowl of Caesar dressing. "The red head out there, her name is Kim. She's the one that saved my life that night."
Surprise flashed across Jake's face. "Really? Jeez what are the odds of that?"
Ron froze. "I know, I never thought I'd see her again…..weird." He then returned his concentration to his cooking.
"Are you going to ask her out?"
Ron laughed. "Are you serious, did you see those two? They're the representatives of every girl who's ever rejected me."
"I still say they aren't that hot!"
"Benny, stop your lying…."
"Everyone shut up!" the room immediately went quiet as Ron rubbed his gloved hands together. "It's done." He tightly rolled up the two sandwich wraps and secured them both with a toothpick. "Perfect grilled chicken salad wraps in less than three minutes."
Benny and Jake applauded accordingly.
"Benny, get me two bags of sunchips; Jake I need two glasses of coke…no diet cokes, stat."
Benny and Jake rushed to retrieve the items. "Ron, you me, our own restaurant…think about it."
"Never going to happen Jake," Ron shouted as he placed the wraps on a plastic tray. A minute or so later, he presented the assembled meals to Kim and Monique.
"Here you go ladies, Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps I made them myself," he said gleefully as he placed the food on their table.
"It looks delicious," Kim commented.
"It tastes delicious," Ron replied.
He looked on anxiously as the two took small bites of the sandwich wraps, savored and chewed for at least ten seconds.
Monique was the first to respond. "Oh my God, my knees just buckled."
"It's absolutely exquisite," Kim declared.
Ron let out a relieved sigh. "Ok I'll let you guys….you know, eat." He slowly backed away, "and if you need anything more….than just call or shout…I'll be…..in…the back." He then turned and pranced back to the kitchen.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Can we please not talk about this right now Monique? Because he'll show up again and I don't want to be talking about him if he does."
"He can't hear us," Monique whispered.
"He'll sense it, people always sense these things."
"All I'm saying is, for this kind of treatment, you must have left quite an impression on the boy."
"Yeah I kind of saved his life."
"Is that all you did? Are you sure all that excitement and adrenaline in the air didn't lead to an inner city liaison?"
"You see, this is why we can't be girl friends anymore. I'm officially your enemy."
Monique laughed.
Kim took in another mouthful. "This sandwich wrap is incredible; it's got me all flustered."
"I know; I'm glistening. If I smoked I would totally need a cigarette right now…" Monique stopped then she leaned back into her seat.
"What? What are you thinking?"
She pointed at Kim "I'm thinking about your sitch."
Kim stared at her friend curiously. "My sitch? What's my sitch?"
"Let me lay it all out for you. You've been invited to a party this weekend, your, pardon my French, schmuck of an ex is going to be there and you as of this moment have no escort. Now coincidently enough, the young man whose life you saved a few weeks ago, who you most likely never expected to see again, but if I remember correctly you described as quirky and funny in a weird sort of way, is somewhere in the back of this restaurant after serving you a meal he created especially for you...
"For us!"
"...Kim, do you know what this is?"
"Please enlighten me on what this is."
Monique leaned over the table. "This is fate."
Kim scoffed. "Oh come on."
"Girl, haven't you ever seen a romantic movie? This is how it starts!"
Kim returned to her sandwich. "Monique, do me a favor and get your head checked."
"Ok," Monique pulled a ten dollar bill from her purse and dropped it onto the table. Then she abruptly stuffed the rest of her wrap and her bag of chips into the bag. "I'll see ya later."
"Wha…where are you going?"
"I'm giving you the alone time you need to come to your senses and ask blondie out."
Kim held Monique by the arm. "What are you talking about?"
"Kim, I'm the first one who will admit that he is on the surface far from a gorgeous, athletic, intellectual, and artistic, hunky specimen of man. But he's cute…and he's dropped out of the sky just in time for the party. And honestly honey, sometimes that's enough."
Monique pulled her arm away. "Wait," Kim cried. "But I'd feel bad using him as a last resort…."
"Girl, how can he be a last resort when you didn't have any other resorts? Seems to me like he's a first resort" Monique then bounded happily towards the exit. "Call me when you get home," she called out over her shoulders.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Minutes later:
"I was wondering if you'd like some dessert…..uh what happened to your friend?"
Kim looked up from her table. "She had an emergency and she had too……um run."
"Oh."
She smiled at him. "Would you like to sit down?"
Ron pointed to himself. "Me…..sit down?"
"Sure."
He looked over his shoulders like a child about to reach into a cookie jar right before dinner. "Ok," he squeaked.
He slid into the seat across from her. "So how was the food?"
"Immaculate."
"I'm assuming that means good, so I'll take that as a compliment."
"Take it and run," she said. "So…….."
"So," Ron said.
This was not witty banter, this was echoing.
She ran her index finger in a circular motion around the rim of her soda glass. "ok um t…t….tell me something a little about yourself."
Ron was taken aback at first. "You want to know about me?"
"Yeah, I think it's a fair trade, since you know so much about me. Not only did I tell you what school I went to and about my breakup, I also told you about all my extra curricular activities."
Ron ran his hands across the back of his neck. "Oh so that's how it works…you tell me something about you and I tell you something about me."
"That's the new thing spreading around campus; it's called a 'conversation'. I hate to brag, but we Upperton U students really live on the cutting edge," she said with a smirk.
He inhaled and exhaled. "Something about me…..why not….uh I'm Jewish, most of the time…..As a person of Jewish persuasion I'm fated…to like certain things……my mother, God…...Steven Spielberg…….Moses…...holidays."
"That sounds perfectly reasonable."
"I'm from Middleton but you already know that because I told you that the other night….my parents are still living there…..my father is an accountant which is quite an achievement since you rarely see Jewish accountants this day and age…um ok my mom runs a deli at the Middleton Mall…..and they both live in a two story house with my adopted sister."
"Adopted sister?"
"Yeah, her name is Hannah." Ron reached into his back pocket and removed his wallet. "She's six years old." He pulled a picture from the wallet and handed it to Kim.
"Aww, you carry a picture of her in your wallet."
Ron looked down at his wallet. "Well it's not like I don't have plenty of room."
"She's adorable," Kim cooed.
"You've got brothers right…two of them?"
"The twins," Kim said as she continued to admire Hannah's picture. "Jim and Tim, they're teenagers and are bigger pains than ever before. I'm seriously thinking we should trade siblings."
She handed back the photo "Is that all you're willing to divulge about yourself?"
"You want more?"
"I do….just one more thing…..something interesting."
"Interesting…..ok…." he vigorously ran his hands through his hair. "I….do not…….like……grapefruits."
"What do you have against grapefruits?"
"For one thing they're disguised like a big sweet juicy orange but in reality they're just bitter and yucky….."
He stopped. "Did I just say yucky?"
"Yep"
They had a rapid fire exchange of blinking before Kim chuckled.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"I think grapefruits are yucky too."
"Oh….yeah, they're down right insipid!"
"Objectionable," she added.
"Repugnant!"
"Odius!"
"Loathsome even," Ron proclaimed.
Unfortunately after that exchange, the conversation immediately lapsed and quickly tumbled into the realm of awkward silence.
At a loss for words, Ron glanced out the window as his fingers tapped against the wooden table. He quickly returned his attention to Kim when she coughed.
He took in a deep breath. "Listen uh…." he said
"The thing is I'm not ready to get involved…." She said quickly
"……you're absolutely right, it's better that I should concentrate on school and stuff, at least it's something I can control…." He added quickly.
"…..I just don't think it's a good time for me to get….."
"Cool yeah I totally agree, me too, I'm so not in the right mental state for….."
"Do you want to go to a party this weekend?"
"Cuz it would be really stupid to try to force myself into something so soo--- What?"
"I've been invited to a party this weekend, and I don't want to go alone so I'm wondering if you'd like to go with me…."
Ron's right leg banged hard against the bottom of the table.
"…..As a friend," Kim finished, partially startled by the loud bang. "Is that ok with you just being friends? I mean I know it sounds…"
"No, it's fine, we can be friends…..I've never had a girlfriend, I mean I've had a girlfriend. But not a girl as a friend, which will be a relatively new thing for me, actually, now that I think about it, there was this one time….never mind …..I'm uh……Am I just babbling here?"
Kim smiled. "Yes you are, but somehow on some level I get you……I think." She pulled a pen from her purse and began to jot something down on a napkin.
"Hey you don't have to, your number is in the book right?"
"Yes but this time I'm actually expecting you to call. This just makes it official." She gave him the napkin. "Call me later and I'll give you the details."
He graciously accepted. "So what do I owe you?" she asked as she stood up.
Ron kept his eyes on the magical piece of paper. "Don't worry about it, it's on the house."
"No I couldn't possibly….."
He looked at her. "You saved my life and you invited me to a party. If that's not worth a free meal, I don't know what is."
"Are you sure you won't get in trouble?"
"No, but I have not thought about it long and hard, and I've realized I don't really care"
She smirked again. "That kind of attitude will get you fired."
"Here's hoping, this isn't exactly a four restaurant."
"You won't take my money will you?"
He shook his head no.
She blew out her breath. "Ok, thanks for everything," she told him as she started to walk away.
"No big."
"Don't forget to call" she blurted out before pushing through the exit.
"I won't," he shouted after her. He stared down at the napkin with her number on it. He nodded to himself. "Friends…..yeah….I can deal with that."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Three days later: The afternoon before the party:
Both hands under his chin, Ron sat in total contemplation at the table in the small kitchen area of their apartment. Jake sat on the other end of the table, wordlessly flipping through the business section of the local paper.
"I think I should bring flowers," Ron suddenly declared.
"Flowers are good. It'll be romantic."
"Good romantic….no…no…bad….flowers are bad…romantic is bad…I can't bring flowers, we're going as friends."
Jake shrugged. "Ok, but you want to be more than friends, right?"
"No I don't."
"Really?"
"Yes, this girl is so far out of my league, Jules Verne should be writing about it….any further pursuit on my part would only end in tragedy. Another tragedy coming off my last tragedy would really be tragic."
"Wow…….I can't believe you referenced Jules Verne."
"Are you paying attention man, I'm in need of assistance!"
Jake slammed the newspaper shut. "If you don't want to 'get' with her, then what's the point of prepping for this?"
"I might not be in it to win it, but I'd like to stay competitive on the field. You know what I'm saying?"
"No I don't because you're talking crazy."
"It's not my fault, it's this whole crazy ritual. I once spent thirty six hours preparing for my first date with Zita!"
"You just said this wasn't a date."
Ron dropped his head onto the table. "Don't listen to what I said man, listen to what I'm saying."
"You're driving me insane."
"You know what the worst part is? The party is being hosted by Upperton U's Dean. The entire guest list is probably on the honor role. And I bet at least sixty percent of them didn't have to buy their way on to it, but that doesn't mean they couldn't afford to."
"So what?"
Ron lifted his head off the table. "So what?" he said incredulously. "Do you understand that the entire room will be filled with people worth ten of me?"
Jake groaned. "Exaggerating?"
"Give me some tips."
"Huh?"
"How do I handle myself around these people, give me some advice."
"Just be yourself man."
Ron gawked at Jake for about a forty seconds. He pushed away from the table and walked towards the sink. There he poured himself a glass of water that he swallowed in one gulp. After that he slowly shuffled back to the table and took his seat, where he resumed gawking at his roommate. "What did you just say?"
"Be yourself?"
"Wait; let me clear the sanity out of my ears." Ron pretended to dig into his left ear. "Did you just say be yourself?"
"Yep"
"You do realize that I'm going to a socially elite party and not a comic book convention, right?"
Jake rolled his eyes. "Dude"
"Be myself? No one likes myself! I don't like myself! How can you sit there and tell me to be myself, you're living proof that one shouldn't be themselves, you're the antheseus of 'being yourself'."
"I believe its antithesis"
"You're the antithesis of being yourself."
Jake put his hand up to surrender. "Fine, I'll help you out. Do you have….like... a notebook or something?"
Ron ran into his room and hastily returned with a tiny seven by five inch notebook and pen.
"Alright," Jake started, "being in the field of business as I hope to be, you've got to know people. I've personally crashed tons of these kinds of parties before. Now the one thing you'll notice, if you really pay attention, is that ninety five percent of these party goers are superficial and phony as heck. Now if you pick your spots carefully and watch yourself, you can easily fake your way through the night." Jake started to scribble into the notebook. "Here's a tip if they're talking about some pretentious movie or some snobbish new book and you have no idea what they're talking about, just disagree with what they're saying, and disagree with an attitude, be a a bit of jerk about it. No one can ask you your favorite part of something if you hate it…..The party, is it formal wear or causal?"
"Causal"
"Ok so you're going to need Khakis. Luckily, I have a spare for just such an occasion."
"Jake mi amigo, I owe you big."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the same moment across town, her hair still wet from her shower, Kim stared into the large mirror on the back of her closet door.
"My hair is so messed up. I look like a wolf that has just gone for a swim in the ocean."
Monique's voice wafted in from the speaker phone on Kim's night stand. "I'm sure your hair doesn't look that bad."
"I'm a breath away from cutting it all off."
"Ah the Britina look. I hate to tell you this girl but I don't think you have the hips to pull it off."
"Hmmm, if only mockery could heal split ends."
"You're really panicking over a supposed non-date."
Kim ran a comb through her hair. "This is a non-date. It's more specifically a friendly engagement between new friends."
"Yet you're panicking."
"I'm not panicking…I'm just a bit nervous about this party."
"Kim your mission tonight, if you choose to accept it; is to look good but not too good; so your so called new male friend doesn't expect anything but a causal encounter; in addition to making your ex realize he blew it by being a complete jackass."
"Right, I can't overdress, I need to look sexy and comfortable, yet low key."
"I've got it; remember the latest issue of Stylish I lent you?"
"Yeah" Kim opened the drawer on her night stand and picked a magazine out of it.
"Look at page thirty, the article on casual chic."
Kim skimmed through the magazine. "Monique I don't think any of these….oooohhhh this one isn't bad. I have this shirt."
"Casually elegant, you're welcome."
Twenty minutes later Kim once again found herself in front of the mirror. "I don't mean to sound conceited or anything but I am totally gorgeous."
"Gorgeous and humble, the complete package," Monique teased.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
That night:
"OK brain, stop being a spaz, this isn't even a real date!" Ron told himself.
But there is a faint date-like vibe to this whole thing, it's freaking me out!
"Stop freaking out, there is nothing to freak out about, this date like vibe is only in your imagination! So chillax!"
Ok I got it.
"Are we cool?"
Like an ice cube.
"If you screw this up…I swear…I'll, I'll…….I'll start eating lead paint…..do you understand me. Have I made myself clear?"
Diamond
"You mean crystal."
Right crystal, crystal clear, that makes more sense.
He took a second to pull himself together before stepping into the elevator of Kim's apartment building. A moment later he found himself knocking on her door.
"Ok," he muttered to himself softly, "when she steps out I'll go 'hey, you look beautiful'….no wait, friends don't say beautiful, it's way to extreme...cute….no I'm not talking to a child….pretty….yeah, pretty is good….pretty is like beautiful but toned down…..ok I'll go with pre…."
"Hey," The door swung open and Kim stepped out. She wore a Venni Caprice black satin trim tunic shirt and tight black jeans.
Ron instinctively looked her up and down. "Wow you look prettiful..." he gasped "….I mean you look beatty …I mean…" he placed his face into his hands and sighed. "Can we start over?"
"What?"
"If you don't mind, can you please go back inside so we can start over?"
"Uh," Kim wasn't sure if he was being serious or not. So she asked "Are you serious?"
"I know it sounds crazy and weird, but if I start off the night like this, I'm never going to recover. Trust me, it's for the best."
"Ooooook." She reentered her house and closed the door.
"Ron-man you are so smooth no wonder the ladies are lining up around the block to be with you." He straightened himself out and knocked again.
"Hey….again," Kim said when she opened the door.
"You look great," Ron replied.
Ron himself was wearing a black button down shirt featuring a pixilated Bruce Lee on the back, and jeans. "You don't look to bad yourself," Kim remarked.
"I would have worn Khakis but I just found out this afternoon that I really hate Khakis."
"Really? I'm neutral on Khakis."
"Well unfortunately, I can't stand them at all. I don't mind cargo pants though."
"Fair enough, you do look fine though."
"Thanks, ok let me apologize beforehand for what I'm about to do."
Kim's left eyebrow raised. She had finally noticed that he had kept his left hand behind his back throughout the conversation. "Apologize for what?"
"For this" His hand whipped out and she found herself staring at a single red rose.
"I know this is a friendly non-date type of thing but I couldn't help but bring the rose. I've been brainwashed into giving girls flowers. When I was little my mother would tell me every day 'Ronnie, when you take the girls out, don't forget to bring the flowers, always remember the flowers' then she'd turn to my father and say 'isn't that right honey?' then he'd put his paper down and say 'Yes Ronald, flowers will always impress the chicks' he'd say it in a way he thought was cool, but it wasn't really cool at all, it was actually ironic since the only chicks I got back then were marshmallow peeps and…..you stare in confusion as I continue to ramble on about nothing."
He caught his breath. "Maybe it'd be best if I just hop on a bus and go back home……yeah. I'll just go now."
Kim grabbed him by the arm before he could run off. "It's ok. The rose it's really sweet."
Ron sighed "do girls still like sweet; I've been out of the game for so long."
"This girl still likes sweet, and that's all you need to know," she said with a grin.
"Badical," he said beaming.
"Should we go?" They both said at the same time.
"Jinx," Kim exclaimed before Ron could spit it out. "You owe me a coke," she laughed triumphantly.
"Looks like I'll have to be on my toes around you…..Diet or regular?"
"Diet is fine. Now that we've gotten the formalities out of the way, shall we go?"
"Yes let's"
A/N See I can do fluffy its not all Agnst with me...I can do sweet!
Anyway I think this might be one of my better chapters in awhile. Hopefully the chapter flowed well. Of course what I think doesn't help my self esteem at all. It's what you guys think that helps me out. What do you think of this K/R run in? How was Kim and her subsequent reactions? Ron I'm pretty is on point since he's the only character I can write and maybe Monique, oh yeah what did you think about Monique's first meeting with Ron?
So review it'll make me feel better and helps Middlewood get updated faster